Burning Questions - DVD Series

Every generation needs to deal with their respective cultural challenges. This includes questions about faith and religious ideas. In this DVD-video series containing interviews, dialogues, and concise summaries of various viewpoints, Dr Andy Barrister, Director of RZIM Canada ministries anchors the discussion of six major issues that concerns many people, especially Christians today.

Is there a God?

If so...why is there evil and suffering?

Has science eliminated religion?

There are thousands of different religions: which one is true?

Can we take the Bible seriously, or is it just a myth?

Who was Jesus of Nazareth and does it matter?

Unlike some works that concentrated merely on Christian scholars or authors, this DVD series brings together people of different faiths, alternative viewpoints, and even secularists and atheists. Letting these individuals speak for themselves, viewers can make their own interpretations and understand the matter from the various perspectives and to appreciate why the producers call them "burning question." There are Jewish rabbis, Hindu leaders, Unitarians, Muslim clerics, atheists, Buddhist monks, spiritual leaders, academic professors, as well as Christian apologists all offering their take on the six big questions above. In each episode, various individuals offer up their opinions, their doubts, their questions, followed by their own versions of what faith and religion mean. Many of the contributors are from the UK and Toronto Canada.

I appreciate Andy Barrister summarizing at various junctures the historical background of each issue, the reasons behind the major questions, the reasons for faith in Christianity, as well as a rationale approach to understanding the reasons behind why people choose to believe what they believe. Beginning with the question about God, each episode increases in intensity, from faith in God above to the issues of pain, evil and suffering below on earth. The final episode about Jesus raises an important question about Jesus, why despite the many objections, there are people willing to die for Jesus and their Christian faith.

This is not simply a DVD about disparate opinions about religions and faith matters. It is about life and the increasingly pluralistic society we live in. Whether one is a believer or not, the DVD offers food for thought for everyone. Each episode is about 30-40 minutes long and can be used in group discussions rather effectively as the questions offered within the videos are open ended and viewpoints so compelling that they are bound to evoke some responses.